Unemployment in Kibera is not an abstract headline; it is a young man counting coins for one more chapati, a young woman choosing between sanitary pads and bus fare. When options narrow, survival takes shapes nobody lists on a brochure.
ETCO joined the African Initiative for Rural Development to host the first day of a two-day business training — a small room, a big stack of honesty. We talked CVs, confidence, customer service, and how to spot opportunity without selling your conscience.
Recognizing the pressure young people face, we built the sessions around employability: what employers actually watch for in the first five minutes, how to follow up after an interview, how to keep learning when Wi-Fi is a luxury. The goal is not a slogan on a wall — it is a young person leaving with a folder, a plan, and a number to call.
Why two days matter
One afternoon cannot undo years of closed doors. But two structured days can reorder what feels possible — especially when facilitators return for questions that only surface after sleep.
Outside, a hawker pushed a cart past the lane’s bend; inside, someone asked how to save a CV on a phone without losing it to a bad SD card. We wrote the steps on the board in large letters — the small, stubborn details employers never see until you miss them. If you want to fund the next cohort’s materials or a mentorship lunch, we will put your support where participants can touch it: paper, transport, and time.
